Jus Post Blackwater: Private Military Companies and Justice after War
Left: Mohammed Kinani holds a photo of his son Ali, a victim of the Nisour square Massacre ( The Nation ). Right: Supporters of Blackwater operatives involved in Nisour Square stand outside their trial ( Astrid Riecken Via Getty Images ). "How do we go back there, and face a room full of crippled Iraqis and family members of the deceased, and tell them the U.S. D.O.J. decided that they didn't want to go too hard on the men who shot everyone that day?" This question was asked by FBI agent John Patarini in a 2008 email discussing the US Department of Justice’s debate around the charges to be levied at Blackwater, the private military company (PMC) involved in the 2007 Nisour Square massacre in Iraq that lead to the death and injury of at least 31 Iraqi civilians. No insurgents were found to be involved and US military personnel considered the contractors' actions to be unnecessary and excessive . Although the contractors were ostensibly in Iraq as secu...
